From research outputs to development outcomes—selected stories - Water Scarcity, Livelihoods and Food Security - page 187

Companion modeling for integrated renewable resource management:
A new collaborative approach to create common values for sustainable
development (PN25)
Companion modeling (ComMod) was a collaborative modeling and simulation
approach. It used an interactive process and mediating tools to support
dialogue, shared learning, negotiation and collective decision-making. In
addition to generating possible solutions to problems, the process helped
strengthen the capacity of communities for adaptive management. The
principle of the ComMod approach was to co-construct simulation tools that
integrated different points of view and use them to examine problems of
resource management.
In the Mekong Basin and the Himalayan highlands, users compete for water
to serve various needs with different strategies, water-use practices and
perceptions of the problem. Companion modeling was a way to incorporate
many points of view into a collective decision-making process. Ideally, solu-
tions needed to reconcile ecological and social dynamics. They also needed to
improve communication, collective learning, coordination mechanisms and
stakeholders' capacity for adaptive management and collective action. The
question was, would ComMod work in different settings in Bhutan, Thailand
and Vietnam?
The project led to improved communication and trust among multiple
stakeholders, for example between forest authorities and villagers in Thailand
and among different groups of herders in Bhutan, and between rice and shrimp
farmers in Vietnam.
Project activities led to new regulations on the use of irrigation water in the
Salaep catchment in Thailand. In Bhutan, a resource management committee
was established in the Lingmuteychu watershed where the Kengkhar villagers
agreed to coordinate the use of water tanks. In coastal Vietnam, downstream
shrimp farmers and upstream rice growers compromised on the timing of the
intake of saline water at an important sluice.
Citations relevant to this story are: Ruankaew et al., 2010; CIRAD, 2012;
CPWF, 2012e.
Research outputs and development investment
Goats and fodder in Zimbabwe (Limpopo 3) 5
In Zimbabwe, there was an unmet demand for goat meat in local and national
markets, yet this demand was not reflected in prices at the farm gate. Most
goats were produced by poor households in marginal areas where they played
an important role in household livelihoods. Most goat carcasses were poor
quality and as many as 20 percent or more goats starved during the dry season
because of lack of fodder. As a result, many goats were often sold in distress
sales where the producer had to accept whatever low price the dealer offered.